FORMER energy minister Stuart Young has accused the Government of trying to cover up a 'major' offshore oil spill, yesterday calling for a probe into the incident.

Young said in a statement shared via WhatsApp yesterday that Government's statement on May 10, nine days after the offshore oil spill and only after the government of Venezuela told the international community that its ecosystem was being affected by oil from Trinidad and Tobago, was 'not only embarrassing but harmful to the already strained relationship with Venezuela'.

He said utterances on the matter by Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal were 'insulting', noting Moonilal's statement that the spill involved ten barrels of oil and it was due to aged infrastructure left by the former People's National Movement (PNM) government.